Some longtime Democrats are dumping their party, citing raging inflation and the flailing economy inflamed by President Joe Biden’s catastrophic policies.
On Thursday, NBC News reporter Dasha Burns spoke to residents of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, which supported Barack Obama for president in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections before flipping for Donald Trump in 2016.
She said many blue-collar Democrats in the area feel abandoned by their party and blame Biden for the exorbitant heating bills they’re paying this year, as well as the ongoing supply chain crisis.
“It’s these voters here who say they’re being hit incredibly hard by inflation and by the supply chain issues,” Burns said. “I mean, you can see that just about every corner you turn here in Luzerne County.”
She spoke to several people at a gas station who complained about the spiraling gas prices that have erupted during Biden’s first year in the White House.
“I’m at a locally owned gas station here, where they tell me that gas prices at this station have gone up about 90 cents [a gallon] in the last year,” Burns said.
“And this is a region that relies heavily on oil, on gas, a lot of trucking, in just about every business here. And those trucks, they’re hard to keep on the road. They’re hard to fill up at the tank because of these prices.”
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The reporter also noted that Biden’s ongoing supply chain debacle has made life difficult for many residents.
“People are also having a hard time finding basic parts,” Burns said. “I got a gentleman down the road here, Norb Dotzel, who has a topsoil business. He can’t get truck tires for his trucks — even if he is willing to pay a higher price for them.”
The NBC News correspondent said angry voters feel as if Democrats “have left behind their blue-collar base.”
Burns said one example is military veteran Ed Harry, who is “pretty representative of the shift that has happened here in this county: He was a lifelong Democrat — five decades of voting blue — and he is now voting Republican.”
Harry told NBC News that his heating bills this winter have almost tripled.
“For my house heating oil, doubled from last year — went from 400-and-some-dollars to almost $1,000, and that’s probably going to be once a month until March or April,” he said.
Harry said he is also furious over Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. “I’m a vet and what happened in Afghanistan bothers me to no end,” he said.
He added: “I just think the whole economy is a mess, and I have to blame that on Joe.”
Harry joins a growing movement of disillusioned Democrats who feel the party no longer represents them.
Must-read from @RepVernonJones: “I am a lifelong Democrat who is joining the Republican Party. Here’s why” https://t.co/nmFgbflpNV #FoxNews
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) January 9, 2021
North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee, who’s running for governor of Nevada, was a lifelong Democrat who switched to the Republican Party in April 2021.
“The party moved past me,” Lee told Fox News on Thursday.
“In fact, Democrats are now leaving that party in droves because of the socialist agenda that has taken place in the Democratic Party. They’re totally anti-American.”
UPDATE: Trend continues of more Dems switching to GOP than vice-versa in Nevada, via @RalstonReports.https://t.co/DXM5Haxzn7 pic.twitter.com/W3GhNuqpoj
— Nevada Independent (@TheNVIndy) January 4, 2022
Lee said his party’s extremist shift to the far left has alienated moderates, so “there was nowhere for people who thought and felt like I did about the virtues and values and morals of being a good American. It was time to leave. They have destroyed the Democratic Party.”
As we approach the 2022 midterm elections, the Democratic Party will likely continue to bleed support because there’s no end in sight to soaring inflation, terrifying crime waves, continuous border invasions and toxic left-wing race-baiting.
Thanks, Biden!
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
